Green Point, Cape Town ? From Racing Card to Red | Fiberglascu.org

Green Point, Cape Town ? From Racing Card to Red Card

When one looks now at the area that is officially the Green Point common it is hard to see why it is called such. The developments that took place prior to the world cup have turned the area into an ultra-modern suburb and a popular choice for people wishing to open a bed and breakfast in Cape Town, all indications are that the suburb will continue to attract tourist long after the sound of vuvuzelas has died down. The land that now holds, the stadium, Somerset Hospital, The golf course, Hamilton?s Rugby Club and the now defunct Fort Wynyard was once land that was vested by the Union Government as common ground to the City of Cape Town. Guest houses in the area are quick to point out the current attractions of the suburb but few understand the historical significance of Green Point in Cape Town?s sporting history.Well before the land was granted as commonage to the city it was used for general sports and recreation by the people living close by. Perhaps most interesting and surprising to current residents is the fact that it was used as a horse racing track before the establishment of the Kenilworth Race Course. The land now occupied by the symbol of the new colonialism, McDonald?s, was during the nineteenth century, the place that seated the original colonialists as the main stand at the horse races. Perhaps things haven?t changed that much after all. It?s ironic then that the original stadium development in Green Point Cape Town was used for events in which men were running around the track. If developers at the time had lacked foresight we may have been attending the J&B Met in Green Point Cape Point and watching the soccer in Kenilworth. The ground was used for the city?s earliest cricket and rugby matches and to this day is leased by Hamilton?s rugby club as well as used by local schools for sports practice and events.These early developments were not enough to attract the mushrooming industry of Bed and Breakfast, and many guest houses chose to open their business? in the trendier suburbs above the CBD or further down the Atlantic seaboard towards Clifton. The area along the main road had always been popular with the gay community as well as the young and trendy professionals, which meant it had some of the best night spots in the city, it was, unfortunately, also popular with prostitutes and drug dealers making it a less than ideal spot for a Cape Town guest house. When it was decided that Green Point stadium would host the soccer games in Cape Town developers and shrewd entrepreneurs were quick to get their piece of Cape Town. Guest houses opened their doors all over Green Point.It was fitting that an area with such a rich tradition of sport and recreation in Cape Town would host the largest sporting event in the world and then subsequently uses this event to boost the tourist trade through bed and breakfast establishments and benefit Cape Town guest houses in general.

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